The first book I ever read (And the proverbial pebble that started the landslide for me) was 'The 21 lessons of Merlin' by Douglas Monroe.
Other books I have read, but aren't necesasrily directly related to magic itself, include;
-Journey of souls and Destiny of souls, by Michael newton
-Dark side of the light chasers, by Debbie ford
-Autobiography of a yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda
-Way of the peaceful warrior' by Dan Millman.
-Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
-Phoenix rising, by Mary Summer-rain
-Animal speak (And nature speak) by Ted Andrews.
-Star signs, sun signs, love signs and Gooberz. All by Linda Goodman
-Hunting down Channelled messages through Brian, the dragon. Only way is through google searches. They pop up in singles all over the place. I have yet to find the actual original source they come from.
As far as videos and documentaries I have watched a bunch over the years, but for the life of me I am having trouble in naming them off the top of my head. I can only think of a couple;
-The pyramid code (netflix)
-Awake (also netflix)
-10 questions for the dalai lama (yet again netflix)
-DMT the spirit molecule (Still more netflix)
-Generic documentaries watched over years and years of channel surfing. (Not very helpful, I know. -_-)
No matter what anyone tells you do not read silver ravenwolf. She spreads harmful and incorrect information. Just look up reasons not to read her and you will get a whole list of reasons.
Re: Newbie Looking for Media! By: Lark Moderator / Adept
Post # 12 Jun 11, 2017
As just one example, Monroe claims that "Dryads" were female "Druids". This is plainly not so. Dryads were female tree spirits in Greek mythology and have nothing whatsoever to do with the Celts or with Druids.
He also claims that all Druids were vegetarians when all of the Celtic myths stress them feasting with heroes and Kings eating large joints of meat.
If you are interested in learning more about both historical Druidiry and modern Druidiry I would suggest the following.
"The Druids" by Peter Berresford Ellis
"Blood and Mistletoe" by Ronald Hutton
"The Pagan Celts" by Anne Ross
"The Druidry Handbook" by John Michael Greer
"The Druid Magic Handbook" by John Michael Greer and David Spangler
21 lessons is not very historically accurate. The writer states the book as premised around Druidic lore and Arthur's apprenticeship to Merlin. And while yes, as far as historical accuracy and direct link to druidism, it is rather loose. ... Ok. So in historical context it lives up to the monicor people have given it (the 21 lessons of hogwash).
But if you treat it as a good story with generally informative undertones, you can glean a lot of interesting stuff from that story without needing a historical connection The magical information in there is mostly good, and is laid out in a way that is fairly easy to understand. The basic concepts of the tools (the book calls them symbols of mastery) is pretty much accurate, as are the ideas it represents like as above so below, symbols reflecting the macro through the micro, like attracts like, the value of sound through instrument, rhyme, and song in magic, the philosophy of studying the processes of nature to understand the processes in magic, seeking wonder in the everyday, the value of opening yourself to new observations to fuel discovery (new eyes versus new landscapes), that motion occurs towards the path of least force (Breeding ides of working with natural forces and processes instead of against them), and so on.
basically, I treat the book more as a philosophical source wrapped around a fictional story.
Re: Newbie Looking for Media! By: Nekoshema / Novice
Post # 14 Jun 13, 2017
i would not say never read Ravenwolf, but i recommend waiting until you have better footing. she's not the most reputable, and i've heard of many people who got the wrong impression from her books and turned away from the craft.
Wicca for Life by Raymond Buckland was my first and probably my favourite. you could also go with Scott Cunningham's Wicca: a Guide for the Solitary Practitoner [though i prefer his followup Living Wicca] There's also The Witches Bible by Stuart and Janet Farrar if you wanted a more general 'witchcraft' and not 'wicca'. i also recommend when you've read 'the basic' guides checking out Deborah Blakes two books The Goddess is in the Details and Everyday Witchcraft as an inspirational guide how to bring your magickal and mundane worlds together.
as for non-book, there's many great YouTubers you could check out. TipToeChick returned this year after some years away focusing on her family [check out her older videos, she was the second pagan youtuber i ever found and i cannot tell you the number of times i rewatched her videos] i also love Ember HoneyRaven unfortunately she's going through a nasty divorce and had to make 99% of her videos private or her wife could use the fact she's a witch against her [horay Arkansas!] but someone with a similar vibe would be TheLadyGraveDancer, she's a generational witch from Texas, she's got hundreds of videos from spells to basic information to family vlogs. i also adore Kelly-Ann Maddox, she's a tarot reader and spiritual counselor, so her videos are less 'what is an athame' and more positive vibe musings about specific topics [she's probably the number one voice in Shadow Work]
recently i've gotten into podcasts, and while i've checked out a couple pagan podcast people, the one i frequent [and probably the only one i really follow] is Hippie Witch. just if you want some type of pagan musing thing.
otherwise you can find plenty of information here, and you could also try joining a teaching coven that focusing on topics that interest you. best of luck.
Thank you so much for all of the wonderful resources, I will definitely be checking them all out. I've never been into podcasts but have been leaning towards checking some out lately; what a coincidence I should see this around the same time ! (Ever heard of The Celestine Prophecy? Haha)
